Comes straight from the package of real unexplained mysteries is this unique story that will have you thinking for a while. Surprisingly I have come across two real unexplained mysteries and it is hard to wrap your head around both of them. It haunts you with its blur, and the mystery that surrounds it makes it an intriguing read.
While I decided to punch in one of those real unexplained mysteries here, I plan to release the other one at a later date.
Here goes the story. Read on to find out:
Real Unexplained Mysteries
“Let’s take some rest; stop at the next stall we find.”
Amit and Adi had been driving incessantly for the past one hour. Amit looked at his mobile to confirm the time. It read 9 PM. The place where they were headed was Guhagar, a remote village located in Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra, India. It was a 5 hours long ride from Kolhapur, the place from where they had originally started. Roads ran quiet. The occasional bustle of oncoming vehicles had gradually waned.
They had covered more than half of their journey when they had decided to take a pit stop. A dim light flickered in that blinding darkness, and they realized they were looking at their short respite. It was a tea stall, a dilapidated hut built by a tree. It had everything a fellow traveller could ask for. Cigarettes, tea, snacks, you name it.
They stopped the bike, got down, stretched a bit, as Amit sat on a wooden bench next to the stall. Adi asked for a cigarette and two cups of tea.
“Still a long way to go, huh?”
Amit yawned.
“Another 60 and we will be there.”
replied Adi as he took a deep puff from his cigarette pointing to a clearly visible milestone that read 59.
Amit turned out to confirm and then said,
“Roads are getting narrower by the second. Hope you are not sleepy.”
He was yawning profusely now.
“Negative, I got my fuel.”
Adi pointed out lifting his cup, and then chugged it down in a single gulp.
They hit the road once again.
Resuming Journey
After driving continuously for about another hour, Amit felt the need to relax again. So it was settled they would stop at the next tea installation and light another one there. As they drove on they saw what looked like a stall that was silently lighting up the dark at a distance. Taking pit-stops was inevitable. The journey was really punishing after all.
Adi stopped the bike and headed for the stall. Meanwhile Amit waited near the bike rubbing his hands in vain hopes to beat the cold.
It was when Adi was lighting his cigarette up when he looked past that flare for the first time at the vendor who had served him the cigarette. His face appeared to be strangely familiar. Almost as if he had seen him hours ago.
A dubious looking Adi then returned holding a cigarette between his fingers.
“That’s weird!”
Amit squinted as if asking: What?
“I think I have seen that guy before.”
Just as he said that, he turned around to have a good look at the place.
“Wasn’t that last place exactly like….”
Before Adi could even finish his sentence, his eyes fell on the milestone near the road. It read 59 km.
“Wait a minute….”
The horror of it, struck Amit as well as he felt the familiarity seep in his brain. It was the same tree, the same stall, the same bench where he had sat, the same guy who had served them tea an hour ago.
“What the hell!”
Just as they realized it, Adi threw the cigarette as he fumbled with his keys, starting the bike, with Amit shouting in the backdrop,
“Run! Run! Let’s go! Let’s go!”
The Haunted Loop
The story doesn’t end here. Adi was driving as fast as he could.
“How? What?”
He was literally shouting for Amit to hear.
“I don’t know man! That’s messed up shit!”
“Did we take a turn?”
“No! It’s a friggin’ straight road!”
“Are you sure?”
“Hell! Yeah!”
Amit once again glanced at his mobile. It read 09:45 PM this time.
“We have been driving for the past 45 minutes and am pretty sure we were inching closer, and where do we wind up?”
“I know man! That’s spooky!”
The Revisit
So the conversation went on like that, and they might have driven another half an hour so. They were about to waive that thought off their head thinking mind plays tricks on you when you are tired, when suddenly Amit tapped at Adi’s shoulder to bring his attention to a similar flickering light in the dark ahead.
“Look! man!”
Adi slowed down his bike unsteadily to have a good look at what stood ahead. It was something they feared the most.
As soon as they realized it was the same stall all over again, Adi accelerated this time passing it without taking a good look. It was Amit, being the pilion rider, who had peaked to confirm if it was the same stall. He said, his voice broke as he tried to speak up,
“It….It was the same man dude, the same bench. What’s going on?”
Adi was equally shocked, but he never decelerated.
“I don’t ….. don’t know man! I saw the 59 km milestone once again! Is this nightmare ever going to end?”
To their surprise the next hour saw them out of it. Fresh breeze coming from the sea hit them and to their relief they found their first turn. They had decided not to stop until they would hit their hotel rooms.
Aftermath: Other Real Unexplained Mysteries
The next morning Adi and Amit woke up to have their breakfast. That’s when they decided to discuss what they had encountered with some locals. To their surprise many nodded concurring that they too had experienced something similar. As if they had suddenly become a part of an unending journey. And what surprised Adi the most was the colossal import of the milestone. Almost everyone had confirmed the very location where spooky things had happened for them too.
When their little beach vacation got over, Amit and Adi chose to cover the distance in the morning itself to avoid any encounters and surprises. Their eyes were wide open scouring, looking for the exact milestone that had caused them to suffer a prolonged night. They wanted to be sure if the government had accidentally put three milestones with the same number painted on them. But to their surprise they found only one 59 km mark on their way back, but there was no sign of a stall anywhere. There was no bench.
Adi slowed down to check the road, before speeding up again. Because as he neared the same tree he could see plenty of cigarette stubs scattered by the road.
The Final Verdict
For readers who have already come across this Guhagar story before, you would know it is a recounting and re-narration of the original tale. I have tried to fictionalize it a bit for theatrics by giving its characters more credibility. Also, I tried to weave in its horror via the stall angle. I am sure experiencing it first hand would have been an entirely chilling experience. It makes you brood hard at what could possibly be going on there, if not your mind playing tricks on you.
Till then prep yourself for yet another story from our real unexplained mysteries bundle. Keep reading!